Pretoria, South Africa, May 19, 2006 – Somaliland’s president Dahir Rayale Kahin was on a working visit to Ethiopia this week when he celebrated the 15th anniversary of his country’s unilateral declaration of independence, four months after the fall of the dictator Siyad Barre in January 1991.

To be in Africa is to live in turmoil. It is a continent known to be short of peace, stability and respect for the rule of law. But Somaliland, Africa's Best Kept Secret as described by Dr. Iqbal Jhazbhay, a South African academic, has broken the rules in an unprecedented way.

On the occasion of the commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the rebirth of the state of Somaliland, the Somaliland community in the United Kingdom calls on the British government to support the newly formed democratic institutions in Somaliland and recognize the state of Somaliland to promote democracy, peace and stability in the region.

May 11, 2006 – Imagine a country within the greater Middle East ambit that has successfully made the transition to electoral democracy with multiparty municipal, presidential, and, most recently, parliamentary polls. Moreover, imagine that despite virtually all of its citizens being Sunni Muslims, the country's national elections commission designates a progressive, foreign-based Christian non-governmental organization to coordinate the international monitoring of its parliamentary elections. And imagine that the incumbent president's party takes a drubbing at the polls,

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 18, 2006 -- A secular alliance of warlords battling fundamentalist Islamic militias in Somalia said Wednesday that the militias were being strengthened by fighters from the Middle East, Pakistan and elsewhere, and said it had the bodies to prove it.

NAIROBI, May 18, 2006 – The Somali government has described a surprise visit on Wednesday by British international development minister Hilary Benn to the town of Baidoa as a sign of the UK's support to the fledging government.

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2006 -- The top U.S. diplomat in Africa said on Friday Washington would work with any group in Somalia committed to rooting out al Qaeda but she did not know if anti-terrorism warlords battling for control of the Somali capital Mogadishu got U.S. backing.

NAIROBI, May 17, 2006 -- Several African governments on Wednesday appealed to the United Nations Security Council to partially lift the arms embargo on Somalia to enable them deploy a peacekeeping mission in the warlord-infested country.

In an exclusive interview with The EastAfrican in Nairobi during the Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) congress, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, the speaker of the Somali transitional parliament argued that the government – currently holed up in Baidoa

Cairo, May 17, 2006 – A few years ago, a local gang in Mogadishu kidnapped a young student and demanded a ransom from his family in return for releasing their son. This incident was one of countless other kidnappings and killings perpetrated by armed groups in the Somali capital who exploited the disintegration of the central government, after president Mohammed Siyad Barre was ousted from power.

Washington DC, USA, May 17, 2006 – More than a decade after U.S. troops withdrew from Somalia following a disastrous military intervention, officials of Somalia's interim government and some U.S. analysts of Africa policy say the United States has returned to the African country, secretly supporting secular warlords who have been waging fierce battles against Islamic groups for control of the capital, Mogadishu.